Neurosurgical Catheter Glossary: Types and Terms Explained

A neurosurgical catheter is a thin, flexible tube, usually silicone, that carries cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from the brain’s ventricles or the lumbar spine to another body cavity or to an external drainage system. This glossary defines the main catheter types and the terms used on DESU neurosurgical catheter specifications, with links to the matching product where one exists.

Clinical choices about which catheter to use, and how, belong to the surgeon and the instructions for use (IFU). For dural repair terms, see our separate dural repair glossary.

What are the main catheter types?

• Ventricular catheter: the inflow catheter placed in a cerebral ventricle to take in CSF. The DESU ventricular catheter kit contains a 23 cm silicone catheter, 1.3 mm inner and 2.5 mm outer diameter, with a stylet and a right-angled connector.
• Peritoneal catheter: the outflow catheter that carries CSF into the peritoneal cavity, where it is absorbed. The DESU peritoneal catheter kit contains a 120 cm silicone catheter, 1.1 mm inner and 2.5 mm outer diameter.
• Lumbar catheter: a catheter placed in the lumbar subarachnoid space, introduced through a needle. The DESU lumbar catheter kit contains a 100 cm silicone catheter, 0.8 mm inner and 1.6 mm outer diameter, with a 14 G Tuohy needle, a guidewire and a fixation part.
• Lumbar drainage catheter: a lumbar catheter intended for temporary external drainage rather than shunting. The DESU lumbar drainage catheter kit has an 80 cm catheter with the same diameters as the lumbar shunt catheter.
• EVD catheter: the ventricular catheter of an external drainage set. The EVD-010 catheter is 31 cm long, with a 1.5 mm inner and 3.0 mm outer diameter.

What are the main shunt and drainage routes?

• Ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt: an implanted system that diverts CSF from a ventricle to the peritoneal cavity through a valve. DESU shunt systems include Defit, Decurve and Depus VP kits; the ventriculoperitoneal catheter kit supplies both catheters, a stylet and a right-angled connector without a valve.
• Lumboperitoneal (LP) shunt: an implanted system that diverts CSF from the lumbar subarachnoid space to the peritoneal cavity. DESU offers a lumboperitoneal catheter kit with a 100 cm lumbar and a 120 cm peritoneal catheter, and Depus LP shunt kits that add the valve.
• External ventricular drain (EVD): a temporary system that drains CSF from a ventricle to a collection system outside the body and supports pressure monitoring. DESU EVD sets comprise the EVD-010 and EVD-020 series.
• Lumbar drain (external lumbar drainage): a temporary system that drains CSF from the lumbar space to an external collection system. EVD-020 is used with a ventricular or a lumbar catheter.
• CSF diversion: the general term for moving CSF away from where it accumulates, whether internally through a shunt or externally through a drain.

What do catheter specification terms mean?

• Radiopaque: visible on X-ray and CT imaging, so the catheter’s position can be checked. DESU ventricular, peritoneal, lumbar and lumbar drainage catheters are made of radiopaque silicone.
• Tantalum length marks: small markers of tantalum, a dense radiopaque metal, set at fixed intervals along the catheter to show how far it has been inserted. DESU ventricular catheters are marked from 5 to 15 cm; peritoneal, lumbar and lumbar drainage catheters from 5 to 20 cm. See tantalum length marks and radiopacity.
• Inner diameter (ID): the width of the catheter’s lumen, the channel CSF flows through.
• Outer diameter (OD): the overall width of the catheter, which affects how it is introduced and what it connects to.
• Drainage holes: openings in the wall near the catheter’s inflow end through which CSF enters. DESU ventricular, lumbar and lumbar drainage catheters have 24 holes in four rows of six.
• Proximal and distal: proximal is the end of a pathway nearer the CSF source; distal is the end nearer the absorption site or the collection system.
• Silicone: the flexible elastomer from which DESU ventricular, peritoneal, lumbar and lumbar drainage catheters are made.

What does antibiotic-impregnated mean?

• Antibiotic-impregnated catheter: a catheter with the antibiotic impregnated into the catheter material itself, rather than applied to the surface. In DESU antibiotic-impregnated catheters, the antibiotic is released in a controlled manner over 28 days.
• Standard catheter: the same catheter without antibiotic impregnation; dimensions and length marks are unchanged.
• Color coding: DESU antibiotic-impregnated catheters are orange and standard catheters are white, so the two can be told apart on the tray.
• Semi-antibiotic and full-antibiotic kits: in DESU shunt kits, semi-antibiotic means a standard valve with antibiotic-impregnated catheters; full-antibiotic means an impregnated valve body with impregnated catheters. Defit, Decurve and adjustable Depus valves are also offered with valve-body-only impregnation.

What are the introduction and fixation tools?

• Stylet: a removable stiffening wire inside the catheter lumen that gives a soft catheter support during insertion. It is included in DESU ventricular and VP catheter kits and in Defit, Decurve and Depus VP shunt kits.
• Guidewire: a thin wire that supports a catheter as it is advanced, used with lumbar catheters. Depus LP shunt kits include a 0.018” guidewire.
• Tuohy needle: a needle with a curved tip used for spinal access, through which a lumbar catheter is introduced. DESU lumbar and lumboperitoneal catheter kits include a 14 G Tuohy needle.
• Trocar: a pointed instrument for passing a catheter beneath the skin. The lumbar drainage catheter kit includes an angled trocar.
• Fixation part: a component that helps secure a catheter in position, included in DESU lumbar catheter kits.

What are connectors and closures?

• Straight catheter connector: joins two catheter lines end to end in a straight line.
• L-type (right-angled) connector: joins catheter parts at a right angle and guides the ventricular or peritoneal catheter without kinking or clogging. It is the right-angled connector in DESU shunt kits.
• Y-type connector: a three-way connector that joins two shunts to one peritoneal catheter, gives one shunt two peritoneal outlets, or provides two ventricular inlets.
• Luer Lock connector: a threaded small-bore connection that locks in place. In the lumbar drainage kit it joins the catheter to the external drainage line.
• Distal cap: a cap that closes a catheter’s distal end when it is not connected.

Which drainage system and shunt terms appear alongside catheters?

• Measuring scale: the graduated scale of an external drainage system used to set and read CSF pressure. EVD-010 and EVD-020 have a 30 cm scale in mmHg and cmH₂O.
• Drip chamber and drainage bag: the drip chamber is where CSF first collects in an external system, and the bag holds the drained volume. DESU EVD systems have a 150 ml drip chamber and an 800 ml air-filtered bag.
• Three-way connector and hydrophobic filter: three-way connectors give access points on the line; the hydrophobic filter allows venting while keeping the system closed.
• Valve: the shunt component that opens to let CSF pass above a set pressure. Fixed-pressure valves come in low, medium and high settings; adjustable Depus valves are set non-invasively with the Depus Adjustment Kit.
• Antisiphon device: an in-line device that closes when the siphon effect occurs, as the peritoneal catheter moves from horizontal to vertical, to help prevent overdrainage.

Talk to a DESU product specialist

If a term on a DESU specification or tender document is unclear, or you need product codes and IFU copies for any catheter kit, contact our product specialists at sales@desu.tr, through the contact page, or request a quote.